The invention relates to a displacement joint or sliding joint for motor vehicles, having an inner race which comprises an inner race axis, first inner running grooves, and second inner running grooves, having an outer race which comprises an outer race axis, first outer running grooves, and second outer running grooves, wherein a first inner running groove and a first outer running groove lie opposite each other and form a first running groove pair, wherein a second inner running groove and a second outer running groove lie opposite each other and form a second running groove pair, having a cage which is constructed with a substantially circular shape and which comprises windows, the number of which corresponds to the number of running groove pairs, wherein the cage is arranged between the inner race and the outer race, and having balls which are guided in the windows of the cage and which engage with the inner running grooves and with the outer running grooves.
Paired-race joints are known in the prior art in various designs, and are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,816 (=DE 10 2005 042 909) or U.S. Pat. No. 7,396,284 (=DE 10 209 933). These joints are constructed as so-called fixed joints. This means that the design does not include any movement path in the axial dimension, excluding a small amount of axial play. Rather, the articulation point of the joint has a fixed axial position. Some of the known configurations possess the advantage that they have ball races which can be manufactured entirely by means of forming, and therefore can be manufactured in a cost-effective manner.
In addition, joints which can move in the axial dimension, so-called sliding joints, are known in the prior art, e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 7,530,897 (=DE 10 237 169). In these cases, the joint can make both an articulation and an axial length compensation.
Most of the known configurations of such sliding joints must be manufactured by means of machining due to the geometry of their races. The known configurations which allow manufacture by means of forming are only suitable for a very small angle. They mostly have the disadvantage that the cage cannot be controlled, and can therefore travel into undesired axial positions (e.g. at the end of the race), leading to contacts which disrupt the true running of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,806,772 (=WO 2008/043334) describes a homokinetic sliding joint with an inner and an outer race. Ball raceways are situated in the races, and have a tilted and inclined path with respect to a longitudinal axis of the joint. In this case, the angle of inclination and the angle of tilt have a defined ratio to each other.
Published Japanese patent application no. JP 2007-040425 A discloses a joint, in which the outer races thereof have a path, in sections, which limits the axial movement of the outer and inner races with respect to each other.